Neck Ornament (Ibheqe or Umphapheni)
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Object Label
Although beaded adornment using many materials existed in southern Africa well before contact with Europeans, elaborate glass beadwork made with small, uniform “seed beads” emerged with exposure to European trade beads and sewing techniques. By sewing beads together, Zulu women developed a new artistic tradition of making “bead fabric,” which often replaced clothing made from skins or cloth.
Different color and pattern combinations form a visual language that can identify the wearer’s ethnic group, gender, social status, romantic attachments, or other personal messages. This was a particularly important means of marking identity in the shifting social landscape of nineteenth- and twentieth-century South Africa. Today, wearing beadwork continues to be a means of self-expression throughout southern Africa.
Caption
Zulu. Neck Ornament (Ibheqe or Umphapheni), mid to late 19th century. Glass beads, sinew, 11 1/2 × 7 1/4 × 1/2 in. (29.2 × 18.4 × 1.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. Herman Eggers, 45.125.10. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 45.125.10_acetate_bw.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Neck Ornament (Ibheqe or Umphapheni)
Date
mid to late 19th century
Geography
Place made: KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa
Medium
Glass beads, sinew
Classification
Dimensions
11 1/2 × 7 1/4 × 1/2 in. (29.2 × 18.4 × 1.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. Herman Eggers
Accession Number
45.125.10
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
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